Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Love the Benefits and I’m Cheap! – Kristin, Meghan, and Jack


 
Like many other breastfeeding moms, I knew from the very beginning that I would breastfeed my children. Yes, I’d heard about the wonderful benefits for baby, mother, and the environment, but the main reason was that I’m cheap! I couldn’t imagine forking over hard-earned cash for expensive formula if we could help it. My husband, Zac, was totally supportive.

Our first child, Meghan Mary, latched on immediately after birth and happily nursed until she was one. Throughout her first year I worked full-time and spent hours attached to my breast pump. I was a little over-zealous in the pumping department and ended up buying a deep freezer for our garage to store it all. This was before I’d learned about donating my milk to a bank like the Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas, so all that milk was used to help wean Meg. After she turned one, we weaned her onto whole milk bottles since she’d taken bottles her whole life at daycare. I remember I’d made a month-long calendar of how we’d wean her, down to the ratio of how of many ounces of breast milk to whole milk would go into each bottle. The plan was to have a Sunday night be the last time I’d feed her, but after nursing her the Saturday night before, I decided not to nurse her on Sunday. I didn’t want to know our last time was going to be our last! She did beautifully and never indicated a need or desire to nurse again. Around this time Zac and I decided that I could quit my job and stay at home full time. This gave Meg and me plenty of time together to make up for less nursing time.

Our second child, John Zachary, rushed into this world one Saturday night and proceeded to nurse for 8 weeks. I’m only slightly exaggerating as Jack spent his whole first night attached to my boob until my milk came in the next day; he then nursed every 90 minutes to two hours pretty consistently for weeks and weeks. It felt like a luxury to let him use me as a pacifier and to let him control the nursing schedule this time around since I wasn’t working.  Meg loved her brother and, although it was tough, I kept our routine almost exactly the same. Jack was at the library when he was four days old! Breast feeding gave us the flexibility to be out and about and I appreciated that. Meg also learned to play well independently during those times when I had to feed Jack. Lots of times she’d end up sitting next to us breast feeding her own baby dolls or reading her books.

Throughout Jack’s first year I’d usually pump every morning. I liked the idea of having extra in case I was sick or gone for a few days or for a bottle every now and then. I say that, but I think he had maybe a dozen bottles his whole life? We ended up with lots of extra milk and I donated it all to the milk bank. It’s super easy and I highly recommend it to any moms out there who make enough milk!

Jack nursed until he was one, like Meg; although this time I didn’t map out his weaning schedule. He led the way. It was a “don’t offer, don’t refuse” situation. We weaned him right onto whole milk from a cup. A couple of nights after we’d finished with his last bedtime nursing time, I needed some “relief” as my milk production hadn’t adjusted yet. I tried to nurse him – but he pushed away and looked at me like I was nuts! He was clearly ready to move on.

I love nursing my babies. And I love weaning my babies! After pregnancy and year of nursing, it’s nice to have my body be my own for a few months. By then we’re fortunate enough to be pregnant again. We’re expecting our third at the end of the summer, right after Meg turns 4 and right before Jack turns 2. I can’t wait to nurse him or her, too!

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